Slicing machine



July 13, 1937. R w

SLICING MACHINE Filed July 29, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR' BY fi ATroRNEY 2 July 13, 1937. G. R. wooD SLICING MACHINE Filed July 29, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 NdE July 13, 1937. e. R. WOOD 2,086,759

SLICING MACHINE 1 Filed July 29, 1952 5.2%eets-Sheet 3 'ATTORNEY- July 13, 1937. G. R. WOOD SLIGING MACHINE Filed July 29, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 !NVENTOR ATTORNEY July 13, 1937. G. R. WOOD SLICINGMAGHINE Filed July 29, 1932' 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEY- v Patented July 13, 1937 I UNITED STATES-PATENT OFFICE 2,086,759 sLIoINo MACHINE George R. Wood, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as-

signor, by mesne assignments, to The Hobart Manufacturing Company, Troy, Ohio, at corporation of Ohio Application July 29, 1932, Serial No. 625,727

15 Claims. (01. 146102) This invention relates to food slicing machines. slice receiving tray l3 formed as a part of the The general object of the invention is to probase section and having an upright abutment I 3' videa novel type of slicer. extending longitudinally of the machine. The More specifically the object is to provide novel motor M is inserted into housing ll through the 5 means for feeding an article past a knife edge to open bottom of the base I and is secured to a cause the latter to cut a slice. plate l5 by screws I6, the plate I5 being fastened Further, an object is to provide an abutment to the base by heavy screws l1 and I8. The plate for the article normally disposed in the knife post I2 journals the disk knife I!) therein, plane of the knife edge to guard the latter and the knife having a flat face if desired, or a removable away from the knife edge each time cessed or dished face as is usual in some ma- 1( the article is fed towards the knife. chines, or the knife may be set at an angle as Still further, an object is to provide a novel is known to those skilled in the art.

mounting for a clamp on the article holding car- To guard the knife edge, a sheet metal stamped riage. plate 20 is provided, this plate having an' arcuate .Another object is to provide a novel one-piece edge 2| concentric with the rear portion of the, 15

casting in which is combined the base of the maknife edge- Extending to the left of this ed e chine, the slice receiving tray, a motor and switc (as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2) the plate is fiat housing, and a knife supporting post. and acts as a closure for the open front of the Another object is also to provide a slice dehousing II to the left of the knife. The plate 20 flector arranged to house a portion of the knife is formed with a concave portion 22 which ex- 20 p ey. tends rearwardly to cover and guard the back of Still another object is to provide a combined the knife and is provided with a finger 25 secured one-piece sheet metal guard and housing for the by a thumb nut 26 to the bracket 21 fastened at knife. the bottom to the top of the knife post I2. The

Various other objects and advantages of the bracket 2'! at its upper end rotatably carries the 25 invention will be obvious from the following parelements 28 for sharpening knife 19. ticular description of one form of mechanism The motor It drives the knife through a belt embodying the invention or from an inspection connection 30 to the pulley 3| of the knife. The of the accompanying drawings; and the invenpulley is partially protected and covered by the 30 tion also constitutes certain new and novel feaconcave portion 22 of plate 20, the post l2, and 30 tures of construction and combination of parts the bracket 21, while the portion extending past hereinafter set forth and claimed. the right side of post 12 (as viewed in Fig. 1)

In the drawings: is housed and guarded in the concavity of a slice Fig. 1 is an elevation of the machine from the deflector 32 secured to the post l2. The front 35 slice receiving side; edge of the knife is guarded by a lower finger 35 Fig. 2 is a top view of the machine; guard 33 to which is fastened a slice support 34.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the clamp and carriage The cutting arc of the knife is guarded by the with parts of the transverse feeding means in arcuate edge of an abutment plate 36 which exsection; tends normally substantially parallel to and in i 40 Fig. 4 is a section on line 44 of Fig. 3; the same plane as the cutting arc of the knife. 40

Fig. 5 is an end view of the machine from the The abutment plate is provided with horizontal operators side; ribs 31 on the feed side to reduce the friction of Fig. 6 is a section on line 66 of Fig. 3; the article being fed, this feature being particu- 1 Fig. 7 is a section on line 'l! of Fig. 6; larly desirable when cutting cheese or the like. Fig. 8 is a detail of the abutment plate and its The plate extends vertically above the slice re- 45 support; ceiving tray l3 of the frame and rearwardly of 9 is a Section 01111116 0f the abutment l3, so that scraps dropping from Fig. 10 is a detail section of the abutment the plate will fall on the receiving plate from plate restoring means; and which they may be conveniently removed. 0 Fig. 11 is a section on line |Ill of Fig. 1. The abutment plate 36 is supported from the Referring to the drawings in detail, the frame frame as follows: of the machine is a casting which is integrally Referring to Figs. 1, 8, 9, and 10, the back of formed with an inverted dish-like base section the plate is provided with upper and lower bear- IU, a motor and switch housing II, a knife post ing lugs 38 and 39 for rotatably receiving a round r 5 or support l2 rising from the housing II, and a rod 40 which is rigidly carried at its lower end by a generally horizontal crank arm 4| below the plate. Rod 46 carries two clutch collars 42 and 43 provided with interlocking teeth. Collar 42' The spring urges the plate to rotate on rod 46 clockwise to hold the upper and lower ends of the arc portion of the plate in engagement with the stops 41 formed on the free slotted ends of the bracket 21. and the slice support 34 secured to the lower finger guard 33.

In this position of the plate, the arc thereof is in the same plane as the cutting arc of the knife l9, thereby preventing the slightest possibility of the operator's fingers contacting the cutting arc of the knife. The tension of the spring 46 may be adjusted by first lifting up on the collar 43 to demesh the teeth thereof from the teeth of collar 42 and then rotating it relative to collar 42 and rod 40 to more or less tension the spring. A cover 48 is secured to the plate 36 for housing the rod 46, collars 42, 43, spring 46 and bearing lugs 38 and 39.

Crank arm 4| which rigidly carries the lower end of rod 46 is pinned to a vertical shaft 46 rotatably journaled in a hollow post 56 secured to the slice receiving part I 3 of the frame at the end thereof remote from the knife. The lower end of the shaft 49 projects into the base and there has secured to it a horizontal arm 5|, the free end of which is connected by a coil spring 52 to a washer 53. The washer 53 is clamped between the'head of a bolt 54 and the bottom surface of the base, the bolt 54 securing the right hand post 55 to the base, this post and a similar post 55' at the other end of the base carrying between them the round, upper, rail 56.

Arm 5| is movable between adjustable screw stops 51 carried by an inverted U-bracket 56 secured to the under side of the base.. Spring 52 acts on arm 5| to urge it together with attached crank arm 4| clockwise as viewed in Fig. 9 thereby tending to move rod 40 and the plate 36 connected thereto toward stops 4'! and into the normal knife guarding pane.

Spring 52 is a light spring, considerably weaker in its resistance than spring 46 and will therefore yield much more readily than spring 46 when the abutment plate 36 is moved rearwardly of the knife plane towards the slice receiver. In effect, therefore, plate 36 may be thought of as substantially rigidly connected with rod 40 to move therewith against resistanceof spring 52. The purpose of spring 46 is to always definitely hold the plate in knife guarding position when there is no pressure exerted on the plate to move it rearwardly. The spring 46 isreadily and conveniently adjustable to maintain the proper tension for this purpose.

Were spring 46 omitted and only spring 52 employed, the latter being the active resistance during operation of the machine and therefore continually stressed, might weaken after a while to such an extent as not to maintain theplate- 36 against stops 4'! and in the normal knife guarding plane. To adjust the spring 52 to increase its tension would require lifting the machine and turning it on its side to obtain access to the spring, whereas spring 46 may be adjusted merely by removing the cover 46. Another reason why spring 52 should not be relied upon to hold the plate against stops 41- is that it is desirable that this spring be verylight so as to permit a slight pressure on the front of the plate 36 to move it rearwardly of the knife. Were spring 62 made heavy, the pressure required to move plate 36 rearwardly would be such as to cause undue friction between the plate and the article contacting the plate.

Spring 46 thus continually exerts a force on the plate 36 for maintaining it in engagement with stops 41 and takes the place of non-flexible means for adjusting the plate to engage the stops as the spring 52 weakens. Spring 46 in e'flect is a continuously self-adjusting device for maintaining the plate 36 against steps 41. The adjustment of the tension of spring 46 by rotation of collar 43 permits increasing the tension of the spring to take up any slack therein after the machine has been in extended use.

Plate 36 acts as a guard for the cutting arc of the knife and as an abutment for the article on the feeding carriage 66. The carriage is guided for reciprocation past the knife I6 and plate 36 by the aforesaid round rail 56 and a fiat rail 6| on the base. The tray. Portion 62 of the carriage is two-sided, one of the sides being horizontal and the other vertical. A porcelained or Monel metal plate 620 forms a non-corrosive lin; ing for the tray portion.

To the exterior of the vertical side of the portion- 62 is secured a round track 63 extending generally right angularly to the plane of the knife and plate 36. On the track 631s slidably and rotatably mounted the clamp carrier 64 which has intermediate its width bearing lugs 65 at each end through which track 63 passes. The carrier has upper ears 66 to which is hinged by a removable hinge pin 61 the curved arm 66 which at its free end rotatably receives the-rod 66 to which is fixed the combined pusher and hold-down clamp 76 having a vertical face to serve as a pusher or last-slice clamp and a normally horizontal face to press the article against the horizontal side of the carriage tray 62 and against the supplementary underlying tray 1| which is secured by screws 12 to'the lugs "of carrier 64 to move alongwith the carrier on the carriage 66.

The lower end of the carrier 64 has two bearing lugs 15 in which is eccentrically' journaled the ends of a circular rack rod 16 formed at its lower end with rack teeth 11 meshing with a pinion 18 fully enclosed by a sleeve I66 projecting from the carriage except for an upper portion which engages the teeth 11. The turning axis of the rod 16 in lugs 15 is eccentric to the center of the are along which the teeth 11 extend in the direction of their width or the direction in which they follow the circular periphery of the rack rod so that turning the rod on hearing lugs 15 will demesh teeth 11 from pin 16 and move the rod bodily away from the pinion. ,The rod is normally held in a position in which the teeth 'I'l mesh with pinion 16 by the frictional contact of a screw I9 with the periphery of the rod. However, a handle 66 on the end of the rod is provided for turning the rod 16 on its eccentric bearings to demesh the teeth 11 from pin 16 and permit the clamp carrier to be moved on the carriage away from the abutment plate and knife independently of pinion 16. When teeth TI mesh with pinion l6 movement of the clamp carrier away from the abutment plate and knife is not permitted because the pinion is part of a oneway drive which is made up as follows:

A stub shaft 8| extending outwardly from the vertical side of the carriage tray portion rotatably carries pinion l8 and the sleeve 82 to the base ofwhich the pinion is fast. On the shaft-8l is also rotatablymounted the cam disk 83 and the handle 84, the entire assembly being retained on the shaft by the head of a screw 85 threaded into the free end of the shaft and so adjusted as to provide a moderate amount of friction between the outer side of the handle and the screw head and between the inner side of the handle and the contacting annular shoulder 86 of the shaft 8|, this friction being desirable to prevent free turning of the handle. The handle is rigidly connected by pin 81 to the cam disk 83 which has three cam faces between which and the inside of sleeve 82 are located balls 88 which are pressed by coil springs 89 towards the narrow part of the space between the cam faces and the inside of the sleeve. When the handle is rocked counterclockwise, as viewed in Figs. 4 and 5, the balls clutch the cam and handle to the sleeve 82 rotating the latter and the pinion to move the rack 16 and the clamp carrier towards the plane of the. abutment plate and the knife. When the handle is rocked clockwise, as viewed in Figs. 4 and 5, the balls ride freely along the inside of sleeve 82 and do not move the latter and the clamp carrier.

Return movement of the carrier is normally prevented because such movement, through rack 76, tends to rotate the pinion 18 clockwise, as viewed in Figs. 4 and 5, thereby urging the sleeve in a direction to wedge the balls 88 between the cam faces of cam disk 83 and the sleeve, thus locking the sleeve to the cam and handle against movement.

When the handle is moved counterclockwise, as explained above, it moves the clamp carrier towards the plane of the abutment plate. The article on the carriage is engaged with the plate 36 and is either clamped between the lower face of clamp and underlying plate II or alternatively, if an end piece is clamped between the vertical side of the clamp 10 and the abutment plate. Hence upon movement of the clamp 10 towards the plate, the article gripped thereby will force the abutment plate rearwardly away from the plane of the cutting are of the knife against the resistance of spring 52,

This condition is maintained as the carriage moves on its forward stroke with the article pressing on the plate and until the article leaves the arc of the abutment plate at which time the knife will have cut off a complete slice. When the article leaves the abutment plate, spring 52 returns the plate to normal knife guarding position which is maintained while the carriage is on the return stroke.

The plate 36 is moved rearwardly of the plane of the knife by pressure of the article a distance dependent on the thickness of slice to be cut by the knife. The transverse advance of the article on the carriage which determines the rearward movement of the plate in turn depends on the amount the handle 84 is rocked counterclockwise.

A gage device is provided to limit counterclockwise rocking of the handle in accordance with the thickness of slice desired. Any suitable mechanism may be 'used but for illustration a gage device disclosed in detail in application Ser. No. 537,313 which became Patent No. 1,939,030 on December 12, 1933, has been employed. This gage device in general comprises a threaded shaft 99 with a knurled knob handle 9| at one end.

I adjustment corresponds.

' departing from the spirit of the invention.

The other end of the shaft is formed as a stop 92 for engagement with a lug 93 on the handle 84. The threaded portion of shaft 90 coacts with a threaded lug 94 forming part of a bracket 95 secured to the exterior of the vertical side of the carriage tray portion. The rotation of the shaft advances or retracts the stop end 92 and at the same time operates an indicator wheel 96 to indicate the thickness of slice to which the The handle is movable between the fixed abutment 91 of the carriage and the adjustable stop 92.

In operation, an article is placed on the carriage tray 6! in contact with abutment plate 36 and between supplementary plate H and the clamp 10.. The carriage being at the beginning of the forward stroke, the operator rocks handle counterclockwise, as viewed in-Fig. 4, into contact with stop 92, thereby through the one-way drive moving the clamped article in a direction to displace plate 36 against the force of spring 52 from the plane of the cutting edge of the knife a distance equal to the thickness of slice and as regulated by the gage shaft 90. The operator then pushes forwardly on the handle 84 to move the carriage past the plate 36 and the knife edge, the knife thereby cutting off a slice of the article. riage, the spring 52 will have returned the abutment to guarding position and the article will slide past the plate without displacing it.

The plate 36 effectively serves as an end pieceholder in cooperation with the vertical face of the clamp 19.

The plate 36 and its mounting may also be employed in the type of slicer having. an automatic transverse feed combined with either an automatically or manually reciprocated carriage.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a single modification, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without It is the intention therefore to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A slicing machine comprising a knife having an active cutting edge, an article abutment for substantially guarding said edge, a support, means for mounting the abutment on the support for displacement in a direction transversely of and to the rear of the cutting plane by pressure applied to the abutment, an article holder for supporting an article for movement towards the abutment to engage and displace the latter rearwardly of the cutting edge in a direction transverse to the plane of the knife and out of guarding position, the article holder and cutting edge being relatively movable past each other whereby after displacement of the abutment rearwardly of the knife by the article the aforesaid cutting edge may cut a slice from the article, means for returning the abutment to guarding position after the pressure of the article thereagainst is released and a device for variably regulating displacement of the abutment by the article in accordance with the thickness of slice to be cut.

2. A slicing machine comprising a knife having an active cutting edge, an article abutment normally occupying a predetermined position adjacent said edge, a support, means for mounting the abutment on the support for displacement rear- On the return stroke of the car- 4 wardly of the knife and of said predetermined position, means for resisting displacement of the abutment out of said predetermined position, an article holderfor supporting an article, a clamp element movably mounted on the holder for engaging said article to move it towards the abutment for engaging and displacing the latter rearwardly of the knife and away from said predetermined position against resistance of said resisting means, the article holder and cutting edge being relatively movable. past each other to cause the cutting edge to slice the article after the latter has moved the abutment rearwardly, and a gaging device for regulating movement of the article towards the abutment and corresponding displacement of the abutment rearwardly of the knife by the article in accordance with the thickness of slice desired.

3. A slicing machine comprising a knife, a guard masking the cutting edge of the knife, a displaceable mounting for the guard to permit the guard to be moved out of masking position with respect to the cutting edge and to thereby expose the latter, an articleholder for traversing the guard and the knife, and a clamp element mounted on the holderfor movement towards the guard to press an article on the holder against the guard and thereby displace the latter from knife masking position while the article holder is traversing the guard and knife to cause the latter to cut a slice from the article, and means for constantly resisting displacement of the guard away from masking position.

4. A slicing machine comprising a knife, a

' guard therefor, a displaceable mounting for the guard, means for resisting displacement of the guard from the knife guarding position, an article holder, said knife and holder being relatively movable past each other to permit the knife to cut a slice from the article, a clamp element for vmoving the article on the holder towards the guard to displace it against the resistance of said resisting means from guarding position whereby the knife'may cut a slice from the article during relative movement of the knife and holder past each other.

5. A slicing machine comprising a knife, an article abutment plate extending normally along the cutting plane for guarding the knife, a frame; and means for movably mounting the plate on said frame comprising a shaft journalled on said frame, a crank arm connecting said shaft to said plate, a second crank arm connected to said shaft, and a resistant device connected to the second crank arm for resisting rotation of said shaft and consequent displacement of the abutment plate from the cutting and guarding plane;

6. A slicing machine comprising a rotatable knife with an effective cutting arc, a frame for rotatably mounting the knife, an abutment at the side of the cutting are for guarding the latter, means for mounting the abutment on the frame for movement in a direction transverse to the cutting plane and so as to be displaceable in said direction and towards the rear of the cutting plane by pressure directly applied to the abutment, an article holding carriage mounted on the frame to reciprocate past the abutment and cutting arc and supporting an article for movement towards the abutment to apply pressure to the latter to move it to the rear of the cutting plane in aforesaid direction and away from guarding position to thereby expose the cutting edge to cut a slice from the article as the carriage reciprocates, and'means for returning the abutment to guarding position after the pressure of the article thereagainst is removed.

7. A slicing machine comprising a knife having an active cutting edge, guarding means for the knife edge including a guard portion in the same plane as, alongside of, and contiguous to the knife edge for masking the latter, means for mounting the guarding means for movement towards the rear of said plane to displace said guard portion to the rear of the knife edge plane and out of guarding position to expose the edge for cutting an article, means for resisting such displacement of the guarding means to tend to maintain the guard portion in guarding position, an. article holder mounted to traverse the guarding means and knife and supporting an article for movement towards the guarding means to engage a portion of the latter and displace it against the resistance of said resisting means during travel of the holder to thereby move the guard portion to the rear of the knife edge plane whereby the latter is exposed to cut a slice from the article during the travel of the article holder.

8. Aslicing machine comprising a rotary knife having a cutting arc, a guard for said arc, means for mounting the guard for displacement to and from a guarding position, means for resisting displacement of the guard away from said guarding position including a displacement resisting device connected to a stationary part of the machine, a second displacement resisting device of greater resistant strength than the first such device connecting the latter to the guard to substantially rigidly transmit the force of the first device to the guard, the guard being displaceable away from the guarding position substantially against resistance of the first device only, while the second device compensates for slack in the first device to urge the guard firmly towards the guarding position, and a stop'for engaging the guard to limit its displacement towards the guarding position and thereby determining such guarding position.

9. The machine as defined in claim 8, each of said devices comprising a spring.

10. The machine as defined in claim 8, the second device being a torsionally wound spring, and the connection between the latter and the first device including a coupling with two relatively rotatable parts, one part connected to the spring and the other to said first device, rotation of the part connected to the spring varying the torsion of said spring to adjust its compensating action. 11. A slicing machine comprising a knife, a guard therefor, a displaceable mounting for the guard, means for resisting displacement of the guard from the knife guarding position, an article holder for supporting an article for movement towards the guard to displace the latter against resistance of said resisting means from guarding position, the article holder and knife being relatively movable past each other to cause the knife to cut a slice from the article while the guard is in the non-guarding position to.which it has been displaced by aforesaid movement of the article.

12. A slicing machine comprising a knife having an effective cutting portion, an article abutment normally guarding said portion, a support, means for mounting the abutment on the support for displacement rearwardly of the knife and out of guarding position, means for resisting such displacement of the abutment, an article holder, the holder and knife being movable past each other, a clamp element mounted on a holder for movement toward the abutment, a driving member reciprocatably mounted on the holder, one way driving connections between the driving member and said article engaging element to effect movement of said element toward the abutment upon reciprocation of said member, said element pressing the article against the abutment to displace the latter against resistance of said resisting means out of guarding position and into a position to the rear of the cutting plane of said knife for engaging the article while the article holder and knife are moving past each other to thereby permit the cutting edge to cut a slice from the article, and an adjustable gage device for variably regulating the stroke of the reciprocatable drive member to correspondingly regulate the movement of the clamp element and the article toward the abutment whereby the latter is positioned in accordance with the thickness of shoe desired.

13. A slicing machine of the character described comprising a knife, an article holder, means for mounting the holder for reciprocating movement with respect to the knife, a clamp element mounted on said holder for movement toward the plane of the knife, a handle for said holder, means for mounting said handle on said holder in non-movable relation thereto in the direction of said reciprocating movement to provide for direct manual reciprocation of the holder, said mounting means also providing for relative movement between said handle and said holder in a direction different from that of the reciprocating movement, feed means for feeding said clamp transversely of said holder and toward the plane of said knife in response to said relative movement between said holder and said handle, said feed means being operable independentlyof movement of said handle in the direction of reciprocating movement, and a gage device for adjustably limiting the transverse movement of said clamp to variably adjust the feed of the article toward the knife plane.

14. A slicing machine of the character described comprising a knife, an article holder, means for mounting the holder for reciprocating movement with respect to the knife, a clamp element mounted on said holder for movement toward the plane of the knife, a handle for said holder, means for mounting said handle on said holder in non-movable relation thereto in the direction of said rement of said handle in the direction of reciprocat-v ing movement, and a gage device engageable with said handle for adjustably limiting its relative movement to variably adjust the feed of the article toward the knife plane.

15. A slicing machine of the character described comprising a knife, a guard having an edge in juxtaposition to and in the plane of the knife edge to guard and mask the latter, means for displaceably mounting said guard for movement in substantially parallel planes to and from guarding position, a stop for engaging the guard to limit its movement toward guarding position and thereby determining the guarding position of said guard, and resilient means acting on said guard tending to normally hold said guard in guarding position against said stop and substantially in the plane of the knife, said resilient means providing for yieldable displacement in said substantially parallel planes of said guard away from guarding position upon contact thereof with the work material.

GEORGE R. WOOD. 

